Carbon

[Sangogo]

I was wondering. I was reading around on some US sites and people mention the use of carbon in reef tanks. It doesn't seem like a common practice here in Japan, but I was wondering if any of you run carbon in your tanks.

 

[fdokinawa]

not me

 

[jeffb3t]

I used to but it was more a hassle than what it was worth.

 

[Donstuprich]

I run it. I found that it was causing some issues with nitrates. Well that and a weak sand bed. Turns out it's good, but you have to do a lot of maintenance. I now have a routine i'm gonna follow. 2 different charcoal canister fills. Swap them weekly. Boil the one after I take it out of the canister. I have been told that it's activated for roughly 6 weekly runs. So 2 batchs should be good for 12 weeks. You just have to do the weekly maintenance. Which I was unaware, and my nitrates went through the roof. With a fuge/sump... you shouldn't worry about it.

My 2 cents

Here is my nitrate thread which talks more detail about running carbon.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=880632